Social media has taken the world by storm. People spend most of their smartphone usage time scrolling social media sites. As per research, people spend about a hundred and forty-five minutes daily on these sites. And the average daily use is only increasing by the day.
It has also led to the rise of a new profession — social media influencer. Social media influencers are basically advocates or brand promoters that help businesses promote their products to the target audience. As per a study, about forty percent of people have purchased a product after seeing an influencer using it. Thus, brands, too, are leveraging influencers more than ever before.
So, if you are looking to start your journey as an influencer and cash in on this phenomenon, here are some tips to help you out.
Decide Your Niche
This is the first and most important step in becoming an influencer. You need to choose a category you are interested in and then keep creating content on that category. To establish yourself as an influencer and start creating content, you first need to have expertise in that field.
For example, if you want to become a fashion and beauty influencer, you can research various fashion and beauty trends by reading free beauty articles and fashion magazines or by following other similar influencers and see what kind of content they are creating.
Additionally, try to narrow down your interests. There will be various sub-categories in the category that you will choose. Try to keep your focus on two or three sub-categories maximum.
Decide the Channels
There are various social media channels to choose from, each with its strengths and weaknesses. They also cater to a specific type of content. For example, Instagram is best for photos and short videos, while YouTube is good for creating long-form videos.
Depending upon your chosen niche and the type of content required, you need to pick out which social media channel/channels you’re going to use. Whatever you choose, you should be comfortable using that platform and create high-quality content curated for it.
Understand Your Audience
Next, you would want to find, understand, and engage with your target audience. As an influencer, you must be aware of who you’re targeting. You then need to build a loyal follower base by creating content that deeply connects with them.
The deeper the connection, the higher the engagement will be. You can measure their engagement based on the likes, comments, shares, and other metrics. Just having a huge follower base isn’t enough. Engagement is the key. Brands look for influencers who have a high rate of engagement. They prefer working with an influencer with slightly fewer followers but a high engagement rate rather than someone who has a high number of followers but low engagement.
Create Engaging and Targeted Content
Once you have narrowed down your audience base, you need to post useful and relevant content for your followers. You will also need to post regularly to keep the engagement levels high. The better the content, the higher the engagement. The higher the engagement, the more likely are they to buy products and services based on your recommendations.
You will need to create a content strategy to plan out the things you will post on your social media pages. You also need to mix and match the content to provide new and engaging content to your followers. For instance, if you are a food influencer, you can post restaurant reviews, food product reviews, and DIY cooking tips.
Keep Track of Everything
Analytics is a powerful tool provided by various social media platforms. With analytics, you can see how impactful and engaging your content really is. It helps understand whether your efforts are providing you with the desired results or not. If you want to become a successful influencer, then tracking analytics and modifying your content strategy based on analytics is something that you should master.
By analyzing what’s working and what’s not, you can make sure that everything you post is a hit. And brands like to collaborate with influencers whose every post, video, and photo is a hit among their followers. So, dedicate some time to master analytics too to become successful.
While a social media influencer’s role may seem like an easy job, it definitely is not. But, as long as you have a content strategy in place for a defined target audience with the know-how of analytics and market trends, you can easily become a successful social media influencer. However, remember that becoming successful might take time, so be patient and keep working hard towards your goal. You will definitely taste success.
